www.prnewswire.com; Washington, U.S.A.

As part of World Sight Day celebrations, Special Olympics and Lions Clubs International launched a ‘Global Vision Care Curriculum’ in Hyderabad, India. The curriculum presents state-of-the-art science and clinical practice guidelines for quality diagnostic and vision care services for people with intellectual disabilities, who do not receive regular or appropriate vision care.

It will provide appropriate training to vision care professionals and students to help them better serve people with intellectual disabilities; currently very few vision care professionals complete their professional training with experience in treating people with intellectual disabilities.

The curriculum concentrates on a wide range of areas, including:

• The history of people with intellectual disability.
• Global statistics on prevalence.
• Practical and tangible best practices on patient relationships.
• Treating the patient.
• How to garner a reliable medical history.
• How to extract correct and reliable information from the patient during a vision exam.

Special Olympics initially will distribute the curriculum to optometrists and ophthalmologists in more than 43 countries who serve as local clinical directors for the Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes programme. The Global Vision Care Curriculum is currently available on D.V.D. in English and Mandarin, and should be available in other languages soon.

"This curriculum uniquely focusses on how people with intellectual disabilities deserve to be treated and involved in their own healthcare decisions," said Mr. Bruce Pasternack, President and C.E.O, Special Olympics.

Special Olympics research shows that more than one in three Special Olympics athletes has not received an eye examination for more than three years, and more than a quarter have never received even one.